A Study On Lin Shu’s Translation-from The Perspective Of Norm Theory

Lin Shu was a brilliant Chinese translator who first made available to Chinesereaders more than246works of Western literature, which was an everlastingcontribution to the import of western literature and the progress of social culture inthat period，leaving the later generations a valuable cultural heritage. His success is aunique historical phenomenon in a special background. However, as a translator whohimself had no firsthand knowledge of any foreign languages, Lin Shu often adoptedthe way of free translation. Omission, addition and alteration were very common inhis translations, so his translations often received severely criticisms. Besides，there isa wrong tendency which has influenced the translation field for a long time, that is,the purpose of the translation research is widely accepted as being application─oriented and the prescriptive conclusion has only been drawn upon the translation.The overriding practical opinions toward translation lead to the ignorance of itshistorical and cultural value. Therefore，there is a need of a more specific approachtowards Lin’s translation. Only when an advanced framework─a social-culturalbound research framework has been provided，can it further the progress of theresearch on Lin Shu and his literary translation.The thesis focuses on the introduction and analysis of the norms concept and istried to build up a framework for discussing Lin Shu’s translations. Thesource--oriented translation theory can not fully explain them, because it usually reveals part of the problems，and lead to partial conclusions. The most distinguishedscholars in norms theory are Toury, Chesterman and Hermans. In their opinions,norms in nature are descriptive, historical and social which help to guide thetranslation practice and broaden the field of translation studies. The thesis probes intoLin Shu’s translation from multiple perspectives by using the theory of translationnorms. Concrete examples of translation are employed to illustrate the influence ofthe literary, cultural，political，and social factors behind different translation strategiesthe translator adopted in translating process. Meanwhile，the thesis also dwells on theprofound impact the translation produced on the society.Through the approach the norm theory, we can draw the conclusion: Lin Shu’stranslation is confined to but also counteractive on the given social and historicalenvironment. It effectively explains why Lin’s translational practice had the form as itwas. it conforms to the contemporary translation norms of his time，hence，can beregarded as translation. And in the development of literary translation， Lin’stranslations act as a transition because they maintain some of the old norms and in themeanwhile break some others. It successfully performed its social and historical rolein the translation history of China and played a significant role in improving thedevelopment of Chinese literary translation and modern Chinese literature.